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Tomek: Through the first two pieces—the Brandenburg Concertos and English Folksongs by Scholl—I thought the second tubes sounded better. Everything was smoother as though more coherently put together. But starting with Yasmin Levy’s Mano Suave this changed. Perhaps it’s just that I do not know classical music. Everything with the first tubes now proved to have been more live, precise and dynamic. I was especially struck by this with Możdżer where the Luxury Series tubes sounded lazy and withdrawn. The Golden Jazz were more vivid and clear. This is why I would bet on them.

Ryszard B: Without a doubt the second tubes had better clarity and transparency. Other elements like bass extension and dynamics were better with the Golden Jazz Series however. By direct comparison it could be heard that although the second tubes went slightly lower to seem fuller, they in reality had no lower bass at all and replaced that with a strong lower midrange. They also didn’t cast the same great space and for me there is no high end audio without that. The second tubes did not differentiate, did not seduce like the first. This is why I would pick the Golden Jazz.

Rysiek S: At least this time the first tubes of the Golden Jazz Series were much better even though with the Bach I had the impression of thinness as if the midrange wasn’t fully saturated. This impression returned once more with Maria Peszek’s Maria Awaria. After changing to the Luxury Series I thought with Maria and other vocal discs that they were better. Finally I had the kick, power and energy for a palpable sound. But after the Maria disc, the further we went the worse it got with the second tubes. Finally I chose the first as the second ones lacked differentiation and refinement.

Janusz: For me the Luxury Series had clarity, power and seemed subjectively louder. Especially with Możdżer the Golden Jazz was clearly superior in transparency and speed. With those tubes differentiation is phenomenal whereas it dies off with the Luxury Series. This time I thought that the latter had a slightly withdrawn midrange and more shoutiness than the Golden Jazz. Rysiek pointed that out last time which I did not hear before but he was right.

Summary I: As you can see the Luxury Series tubes were not as well received as last time. Is this because they were worn out by now? Most though not all listeners found the Golden Jazz series to play better. Interestingly the two admirers of the second tubes listen to classical music. This is why the incredible midrange of the Luxury Series and lack of aggression was more attractive to them than the dynamics and vividness of the Golden Jazz. For me the Golden Jazz Series tubes were better this time – more dynamic and vivid. I heard the same last time but then judged it differently. Even so the midrange of the Luxury Series is not present in the first tubes and I miss that.